The report from the commissioner, Rosemary Agnew, shows that the share of appeals relating to the Scottish Government and the Parliament increased from 15 per cent to 28 per cent, while those concerned with local authorities remained steady.

Ms Agnew’s office received a total of 524 appeals during 2011/12, up by exactly 100 from the previous year, an increase of 24 per cent.

It is simply not acceptable that citizens’ rights continue to be eroded through complex changes in the delivery of services. This must be looked at as an immediate priority

Rosemary Agnew

Slightly more than three-quarters came from the public, with 12 per cent from the media.

Introducing her report, Ms Agnew highlighted the number of service providers that were not responding to information requests, their responsibilities having been out-sourced to third parties.

She said: “An ever-growing concern is the loss of rights occurring through the delivery of public services by ‘arm’s-length’ organisations and third parties.

“FOI was introduced for a reason – to ensure that the delivery of public services and the spending of public money is transparent, open and accountable,” she said.

Ms Agnew added: “It is simply not acceptable that citizens’ rights continue to be eroded through complex changes in the delivery of services. This must be looked at as an immediate priority.”

Labour MSP Paul Martin said: “The fact that the number of complaints from members of the public about the SNP Government has almost doubled in a year is symptomatic of the SNP’s obsession with secrecy.

“The increasing number of Scots having to drag information from the SNP Government kicking and screaming is deeply worrying.”

Mr Martin added: “Coming in the same week as the SNP Government spending hundreds of thousands of pounds going to court to stop publishing its legal advice, I have little faith in the SNP opening up more decision-making in Scotland to public scrutiny.

“The Freedom of Information Act is a pillar of our democracy and the SNP is treating it with utter contempt.”

Most appeals about ministers and the Scottish Parliament concerned administration, followed by appeals related to safety and crime, roads, employment matters, court and issues involving planning.

In contrast to previous years, in which appeals relating to the Government had fallen, the trend was now upwards.

“It’s important the Scottish Government looks at this issue more carefully and tell us what it intends to do to improve the situation.

“The most obvious example of all this is the determination to take all the way to court its refusal to reveal whether or not it has sought legal advice on a separate Scotland’s entry to the EU,” said Mr Brown.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “As with any process, there is always room for improvement and the Scottish Government will be happy to work with the Commissioner to share good practice and make improvements where possible.”